Heat-Dissipating Fin Set in Combination with Thermal Pipe

ABSTRACT

A heat-dissipating fin set in combination with thermal pipe includes a plurality of fin plates and each of the fin plates has at least one closed through hole at same location. Each of the thermal pipe passes through the through hole. Each of the fin plate has an accommodating section atop the through hole and used for accommodating a heat-conducting material. The heat-conducting material is placed into the accommodating section. The heat-conducting material is molten after heating the heat-dissipating fin set and the molten heat-conducting material fills a gap between the through hole and the thermal pipe, whereby a thermal conductance is provided between the through hole and the thermal pipe.

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/016,823, filed on Nov. 24, 2004.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a heat-dissipating fin set in combination with thermal pipe, more particularly to a heat-dissipating fin set in combination with thermal pipe, wherein a heat-conducting material is filled into a gap between a through hole of the heat-dissipating fin set and the thermal pipe.

The conventional heat-dissipating fin set generally comprises thermal pipe with wick structure and working fluid. The working fluid flows through the wick structure and the thermal pipe to have heat exchange with a heat source on the heat-dissipating fin set, thus removing heat from the heat-dissipating fin set.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the assembly of a heat-dissipating fin set 10 a and thermal pipes 20 a. At least one closed through hole 11 a is defined in each fin plate 1 a of the heat-dissipating fin set 10 a. The through hole 11 a has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the thermal pipe 20 a to receive the thermal pipe 20 a therein. However, gap will be formed between the through hole 11 a and the thermal pipe 20 a due to the diameter mismatch. The through hole 11 a could be formed with a diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the thermal pipe 20 a to tightly engage with the thermal pipe 20 a. However, the gap is still inevitably formed, which causes larger thermal resistance and poor thermal conduction efficiency.

To solve above-mentioned problem, a heat-conducting material 2 a is pasted on outer face of the thermal pipe 20 a before the thermal pipe 20 a is assembled into the through hole 11 a of the fin plate 1 a. The heat-conducting material 2 a, such as heat-conducting glue or tin paste, will be solidified in the gap to form seamless sealing between the through hole 11 a and the thermal pipe 20 a.

However, the heat-conducting material 2 a may be scratched off by the inner wall of the through hole 11 a during the thermal pipe 20 a being assembled into the through hole 11 a. The scratched heat-conducting material 2 a is piled, with uneven thickness, around the through hole 11 a on the outmost fin plate 1 a. The problem of gap still remains and the provision of the heat-conducting material 2 a cannot solve this problem.

Furthermore, the heat-conducting material 2 a suffer to the problem of deposit and storage because it should be applied before the assembling of the thermal pipe 20 a. Moreover, the heat-conducting material 2 a may drop or scatter during paste, which causes dirt and difficulty in processing.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is to provide a heat-dissipating fin set in combination with thermal pipe, wherein a heat-conducting material is filled into a gap between a through hole of the heat-dissipating fin set and the thermal pipe to enhance thermal conduction therebetween.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a heat-dissipating fin set in combination with thermal pipe, the heat-dissipating fin set comprising a plurality of fin plates, each of the fin plates having at least one closed through hole, each of the thermal pipe passing through the through hole. Each of the fin plate has an accommodating section atop the through hole and used for accommodating a heat-conducting material. The heat-conducting material is placed into the accommodating section. The heat-conducting material is molten after heating the heat-dissipating fin set and the molten heat-conducting material fills a gap between the through hole and the thermal pipe, whereby a thermal conductance is provided between the through hole and the thermal pipe.

The above summaries are intended to illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention, which will be best understood in conjunction with the detailed description to follow, and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the invention believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself however may be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, which describes certain exemplary embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the assembly of a prior art heat-dissipating fin set and thermal pipes.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the heat-dissipating fin set according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the assembling of the thermal pipe into the heat-dissipating fin set according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the applying of heat-conducting material to the heat-dissipating fin set.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the flowing of heat-conducting material into the through hole.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the heat-dissipating fin set according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the tin strip passing the guiding hole according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the molten tin strip according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the fin plate according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is intended to provide a heat-dissipating fin set in combination with thermal pipe. With reference now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the heat-dissipating fin set 10 in combination with the thermal pipe 20 are assembled on a heat-generating electronic device such as a CPU, thus dissipating the heat generated by the device. The heat-dissipating fin set 10 comprises a plurality of sheet-shaped fin plates 1. Each of the fin plates 1 has at least one closed through hole 11 at predetermined location. In the shown embodiment, there are two through holes 11. As shown in FIG. 4, two thermal pipes 20 are assembled to corresponding through holes 11.

The present invention is characterized in that an accommodating section 12 is formed on the fin plate 1 and atop the through hole 11 and used to accommodate the heat-conducting material 2. In the shown embodiment, the accommodating section 12 is a dent 121 at top of the fin plate 1 and is concave downward. The dent 121 is extended above but not in connecting with the through hole 11. That is, a gap is formed between the through hole 11 and the dent 121 so that the through hole 11 still keeps a closed circular shape in cross section.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, in the present invention, the heat-conducting material 2 is extruded to the dent 121 after the thermal pipe 20 is assembled to the heat-dissipating fin set 10. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the heat-conducting material 2 is sticky heat-conducting glue and can be applied to the dent 121 by automatic gluing process. With reference to FIG. 5, the heat-conducting material 2 is molten by heating the whole heat-dissipating fin set 10, after the heat-conducting material 2 is applied to the dent 121. The molten heat-conducting material 2 flows downward along the lateral side of the plate-shaped fin plates 1 due to the weight per se. The molten heat-conducting material 2 will fill the gap between the thermal pipe 20 and the through hole 11 in case that the inner diameter of the through hole 11 is larger than the outer diameter of the thermal pipe 20. The thermal pipe 20 and the through hole 11 have tight sealing therebetween after the molten heat-conducting material 2 is solidified. Therefore, there is excellent thermal conduction between the thermal pipe 20 and the through hole 11.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another preferred embodiment of the present invention. The accommodating section 12 is implemented by a through guiding hole 122 atop the through hole 11. The through guiding hole 122 can be of rounded shape as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Moreover, the through guiding hole 122 can be of inverted water-drop shape as shown in FIG. 9, or inverted triangular shape with narrow bottom or tapered shape with narrow bottom. The through guiding hole 122 can facilitate the flowing of the molten heat-conducting material 2′ into the through hole 11. The heat-conducting material 2′ in solid status can fill into the through guiding hole 122 after the heat-dissipating fin set 10 is assembled. The heat-conducting material 2′ can be tin strip, tin paste or wax. As shown in FIG. 8, the heat-conducting material 2′ in solid status becomes molten heat-conducting material 2′ after heating. The molten heat-conducting material 2 flows downward along the lateral side of the plate-shaped fin plates 1. The molten heat-conducting material 2′ will fill the gap between the thermal pipe 20 and the through hole 11. Therefore, there is excellent thermal conduction between the thermal pipe 20 and the through hole 11.

As can be seen in above description, the provision of the accommodating section 12 facilitates the molten heat-conducting material 2, 2′ flowing downward along the lateral side of the plate-shaped fin plates 1 and filling the gap between the thermal pipe 20 and the through hole 11. Therefore, there is excellent thermal conduction between the thermal pipe 20 and the through hole 11.

Moreover, the through hole is a closed hole to provide mechanical robustness. The thermal pipe can be tightly engaged and secured. The heat-conducting material can be applied from top side of the fin plate to simplify process.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have suggested in the foregoing description, and other will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. 

1. A heat-dissipating device, comprising: a heat-dissipating fin set including a plurality of fin plates, each of the fin plates having at least one closed through hole and an accommodating section atop the through hole, the accommodating section being formed in a downward dent extending but not in connecting with the through hole and a heat-conducting material being placed into the dent; and a thermal pipe passing through the through hole; wherein the heat-conducting material is molten after heating the heat-dissipating fin set and the molten heat-conducting material filling a gap between the through hole and the thermal pipe so that a thermal conductance provided between the through hole and the thermal pipe.
 2. The heat-dissipating device as in claim 1, wherein the heat-conducting material is heat-conducting glue.
 3. The heat-dissipating device as in claim 1, wherein the heat-conducting material is tin strip.
 4. The heat-dissipating device as in claim 1, wherein the heat-conducting material is tin paste.
 5. The heat-dissipating device as in claim 1, wherein the heat-conducting material is wax. 